SAKHI JI
When the vision is of one year,
cultivate flowers…….. when the vision is of ten years, cultivate trees…… when the vision is of eternity,
cultivate people.
- Meena Om
HMARE SAKHI
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Maharaj Sri ( 16-3-2010 NEAT AND CLEAN DELHI YAMUNA RIVER )
Saturday, April 3, 2010
It’s our city, and the state of the river that is its lifeline, the Yamuna, is also our responsibility. To create awareness and mobilise support for this cause, Art of Living launched its citizen awareness campaign titled ‘Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna’ on March 16 at Purana Qila, which saw the presence of thousands of citizens, leaders and stakeholders.
This is a social initiative by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual and humanitarian leader and founder, Art of Living, that aims to create awareness and ownership among citizens for the Yamuna. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living have been spearheading a week-long cleanliness drive of the eight Yamuna ghats, where thousands of Art of Living volunteers, along with supporting organisations and others, have cleaned the ghats, waded into the waters, removed debris and waste and planted trees on the ghats to beautify them.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
More than 3,000 schoolchildren, college students and volunteers of the Art of Living (AOL) Foundation plunged into cleaning the Yamuna amid scorching heat Tuesday, collecting truckloads of garbage that choke the river and its banks here.
The residents of Yamuna Bazaar ghat in north Delhi provided boats and lifeguards to help the volunteers who brought back garbage from the river.
'Besides schoolchildren and college students, locals also participated in the cleaning. We collected five truckloads of garbage from this ghat,' Purshottam Mathur, a project coordinator, told IANS.
New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar tonight launched an eight-day programme to clean Yamuna and create awareness among people to restore the river's past glory.At a function here, Ravi Shankar said people should join hands and make others aware about making water of the river clean, pure and drinkable."Earlier rivers used to pure us, but today we have reached a stage where we have to clean the rivers. Only the government and a single agency can't make it happen. We have to make it by joining hands," he told a gathering of bureaucrats, artists, politicians and dignitaries at the Purana Quila here.
“The responsibility for cleaning up the Yamuna lies with us – the people she nurtures,”
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said.
“This movement is a call to remind us what this river has given to generations before us, and to allow her to nourish generations after us. It is a platform for our individual voices that will become a collective echo and an unstoppable force,” the founder of the Art of Living movement told reporters at the launch of the campaign here.
“I know thousands of crores have been spent over the years but the condition of the Yamuna has not improved…Let us go and clean the banks of the Yamuna from tomorrow (Wednesday),”
he added.
It’s our city, and the state of the river that is its lifeline, the Yamuna, is also our responsibility. To create awareness and mobilise support for this cause, Art of Living launched its citizen awareness campaign titled ‘Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna’ on March 16 at Purana Qila, which saw the presence of thousands of citizens, leaders and stakeholders. This is a social initiative by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual and humanitarian leader and founder, Art of Living, that aims to create awareness and ownership among citizens for the Yamuna. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living have been spearheading a week-long cleanliness drive of the eight Yamuna ghats, where thousands of Art of Living volunteers, along with supporting organisations and others, have cleaned the ghats, waded into the waters, removed debris and waste and planted trees on the ghats to beautify them. And it doesn’t stop at hands-on work - it’s a long-term commitment to making this a larger project and getting Delhiites to invest time and effort into the effort. Over a seven month period, the Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna campaign will work towards creating the ‘3As’ - Awareness, Action and Accountability - among multiple stakeholders, including citizens, the government, NGOs, educational institutions and corporate houses, who will all be exhorted to play their part in both cleaning up and sustaining the cleanliness of the Yamuna. This will culminate in a clean-up drive of Delhi in September before the Commonwealth Games. Present at the function were Kiran Walia, minister for health and family welfare, women and child development and languages, Delhi government; Rakesh Mehta, chief secretary, Delhi government; Kanwar Sain, mayor of Delhi; Ramesh Negi, CEO, Delhi Jal Board; Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra (vocalists, Hindustani music), Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia (classical Hindustani flautist), Uma Sharma (Kathak exponent), Sonal Mansingh (Odissi dancer), Vandana Shiva, Sharon Lowen, Aman Nath, Malvika Tiwari, Leena Singh and Neeva Singh, among others. Supporting organisations include Delhi Jal Board, MCD, Philips, Max Healthcare, IRCTC, NDPL, IGL, Sulabh, SBI, Bajaj Allianz, LG, Powergrid, Videocon, Dominoes, Sulabh, UNESCO, Aricent, Hughes, Shrushti, employees of Genpact, EXL, HCL, ST Microelectronics and Adobe, among others. Says Nath, co-chairman, Neemrana, “To bring about a change, you need to act with purpose. In Delhi, there are 19 nullahs that flow into the Yamuna and we don’t have the requisite technology to clean up this river.’’ In this context, he spoke about a river in Boston which was heavily polluted, and about how the residents of the city came together to clean up the river. “We can also follow similar examples, and more and more people should come forward in this endeavour. I am sure that before the beginning of the CWG, we will be able to achieve our mission.” Leena Singh, designer, who is also working on the ‘Cleaning of Chandni Chowk’ project through her tie-up with the NGO, Khushii, says that when they were approached by the Art of Living foundation, she was more than happy to lend her support to the cause. The Yamuna project, she says, has provided a platform to bring together a group of like-minded people who can undertake the cleaning up of the Yamuna with single-minded devotion. Malvika Tiwari, former model and TV actress, says, “I’m happy at the enthusiasm shown by people for this noble project. Even if we can achieve 70 per cent of the clean up of Yamuna before the CWG, we’ll have achieved our objective.’’ Malvika feels that the government should extend all possible support to this cause. She has also exhorted Delhiites not to throw garbage in the streets or into the Yamuna. “An attitudinal shift is required,’’ she says. According to Kathak dancer Uma Sharma, continuous work is required. “Since this project has taken off on a positive note, the momentum should be maintained, so that the initiative can be taken forward by undertaking the clean up campaign of other rivers and ghats too,” she says.
YOUTH FRATERNITY FOUNDATION (REGD.)
From left to right: Former cabinet minsiter Buthelezi, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, deputy high commissioner of India in South Africa, former President De Klerk, Deputy President Phumzile Mlamba-Ngcuka, Gandhian Mewa Ramgobin and former political prisoner Ahmed Kathrada at the at the function held in Robben Island to mark the 100th years of Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha in South Africa.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has congratulated the J&K government, Amarnath Shrine Sangarsh Samiti and people of the state on the amicable resolution of the Amarnath land row. Calling it a victory of dialogue over violence, he expressed the hope that yatris will now have access to basic amenities during the annual Amarnath Yatra with the co-operation of the local people.
Art of Living volunteers team up to clean river Yamuna
